Breathe in….breathe out….take a Selah (pause) and for just a moment, think…who or what in your life makes you FEEL significant?
Is it a job, a title, a position? Is it a number in your bank account? Is it your reflection in the mirror? Is it a significant other or the hope of finding one? Is it a child or the hope of having one?
- What makes you SIGNIFICANT?
Growing up in church, I quickly learned that the correct answer to any question they asked was simply “JESUS!” In my mind, I thought, there’s no way it’s that easy. When it came to finding my significance, I decided to search the world to find it!
Fast forward—10 painful years of playing with the world.
The nurse hands me an 8 pound 10 ounce, perfect, beautiful baby girl. I held her in my arms and as the tears rolled down I said, “This is it! I have become SIGNIFICANT!”
Sixteen months later, the same nurse hands me a 6 pound 6 ounce baby girl. She is beautiful, tiny, she is perfect. The tears begin to flow and I say, “This is it! I am finally SIGNIFICANT!”
In these sacred moments, I make a vow to God & to myself that I am about to embark on the greatest mothering journey that the world has ever seen! I will hold nothing back, I will do this job well and give them every ounce of my being!
Sadly, my motive for significance came from a place of brokenness—a broken heart & some broken theology. I thought if I could DO this…God would forgive me….He would redeem the baby I had not chosen to give life to. Broken meets Beautiful.
Isaiah 53:5: He was pierced for my transgressions, He was crushed for my iniquities, the punishment that brought me PEACE was laid upon Him and by His stripes I am healed.
Jesus. That one “right” answer growing up. Jesus. The one who bore the entirety of my past, all my guilt and my deepest shame. Jesus. My true significance.
You see, motherhood did not make me significant. Do you know why? Because I was only significant as long as “they” were significant. I was only doing well as long as they were performing well. When you look to your children to make you significant, when they fail and when they fall—you will fall even harder. You may even say things and do things they never deserved from you.
Anything you build your heart & life upon other than GOD, when those things are shaken, you will be shaken. When they come crashing down, you too will come crashing down.
False foundations can’t weather a storm. Jesus said, the foolish man built his house upon the sand. The rains came, the wind blew and the house built on the sand came crashing down but the wise man built his house upon the Rock. The rains came, the wind blew but the house built upon the Rock remained standing.
Jesus was saying that our foundation, what we build our life upon is truly significant!
Little people grow up & move away–
Young adults don’t always meet our expectation level–
People we love die—
People we love LEAVE—
But God. He is the unchanging God; the same yesterday, today and forever! He is the Rock we build our life upon. His faithfulness, is solid, it is immovable and it’s unshakeable. We build our life on HIM. We find our true significance in HIM.
Time proved they were right. Jesus is the answer. We make it hard but He is easy enough for a little child to grasp.
Are you looking for significance? Why not give Jesus a look. He won’t disappoint—as a matter of fact, He has always exceeded my expectations…and I can’t say that about anyone else in this world.
Love you significant one!
Jill
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